


(With A Thousand Sweet Kisses) I'll Cover You

by kaithegemini



Category: Brian D'Arcy James - Fandom, Broadway - Fandom, Christian Borle - Fandom, DashieXP, Milky Chance - Fandom, Philtonio, Phlemens, Prince Rogers Nelson
Genre: Broadway, Dark Past, F/M, Hollywood, M/M, Squad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-10 16:24:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7852462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaithegemini/pseuds/kaithegemini





	1. What The Hell?

Goosebumps raced down my arms as I shoved my hands into the pocket of my jacket. The cold that had seemed mild at first had now numbed my face and chilled my fingers. What residual heat I had absorbed in from the taxi was gone. Breeze moistened with snow licked at my face and crept under my clothes, spreading across my skin in waves of bitterness. Of course, not even the unforgiving snow could stop the bustle of New York City streets. The noise of clinking plates from inside Italiano's, honking horns, and ringing cell phones made it almost impossible for me to be alone with my thoughts.

The aroma of garlic bread and tomato soup from the restaurant made my mouth water. I eased closer to its open door, taking a deep breath of the heavenly scent. If Brian didn't get here soon, I'd have to partake in the Italian buffet without him. Shivers raced down my spine as I checked my watch. In exactly four minutes, Brian would be late and I'd be forced to have lunch without him. I glanced back at the welcoming restaurant. Maybe I should get seated, just in case he didn't show.

"Waiting on someone too?" a voice chuckled next to me.

I turned to see a copper-skinned man grinning behind me, towering well over my head. His dark eyes gleamed in the warm light of the restaurant. A playful grin was etched into is chiseled features. He had a sense of familiarity to him that I couldn't quite put my finger on. His muscles practically bulged through his silky black shirt. One look and both women and men would swoon, no matter their preferences. Among everyone else he seemed to stand out the most. I wasn't sure if it was his almost intimidating height or familiar face.

"Yeah," I laughed, running a trembling hand through my hair. "you?"

"My girlfriend, Paisley. She's always late," he sighed, extending a hand out to me. "Adonis, by the way."

"Christian," I introduced, shaking his hand.

Adonis? With that face and name, I was almost positive that I had seen him before. Perhaps on TV or maybe in a movie. He certain had the look of a movie star. We conversed over the weather absentmindedly as I pondered over who he was. People gawked at us as they walk past, some even stopping to snap impromptu pictures of us. I raised my eyebrow at them. What the hell?

A little boy skipped towards us from the crowd, cradling a basketball to his chest. "Can I have your autograph, Mr. AJ?" he asked quietly.

AJ? I gasped as the realization swept through me. Holy shit, he was the Adonis Johnson! He scored the winning point for the Knicks in the NBA championship last year. I didn't even watch sports, but everyone raved about it for weeks after it happened. What the hell was he doing in Times Square without a parade of body guards or something? People like him can't just make appearances without precautions. He knelt down and signed the boy's basketball, ruffling up his hair before sending him back to his mother.

Brian jogged up to me just before I could capture his attention. A woman followed close behind him, but split into the crowd soon after I spotted her. I punched him in the chest as soon as he got within arm's reach. His hands clutched his chest as he stepped back.

"What was that for?" he whined, rubbing the bruise I had given him.

"For making me wait for so damn long," I groaned.

People swooned around us, capturing my attention. A half-circle of onlookers snapped pictures of Adonis as he wrapped his arms around the waist of a dark-haired woman. Her fur coat fell to her ankles. Red-bottom heels helped her reach his height. From where I stood, her face was concealed by her hair.

"Must be Paisley," I acknowledged out loud.

"You know her?" Brian gasped.

"Nah, Adonis mentioned her earlier," I answered. "Let's go inside. I'm hungry as hell."

A waitress greeted us as soon as we entered Italiano's. I peered over my shoulder at the couple ravishing in the attention the crowd was giving them as Brian made sure we still had our reservation. The cameras seemed to eat up all of the public affection they were displaying. It almost made me nauseus. Brian requested for her to seat us in a secluded area near the window. I picked up my menu, looking over the options.

"What are you getting?" Brian asked, going back to his menu.

"Don't know," I sighed. "can't decide."

"Same," he shook his head, flipping the menu over.

I ordered a coffee when the waitress came to take our order for drinks. Another waitress escorted Adonis and Paisley to a booth a few tables down from us. Paisley with her back to us. My eyes lingered on them for a moment before going back to my menu. Brian sighed, closing his menu and brushing off the waitress. I raised my eyebrow at him. He almost never passed on coffee when we went out for lunch, especially before a show. We sat in total silence after the waitress left. He tapped his foot, mumbling to himself as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy. What's up?" I asked, pushing my menu away.

"Huh? Oh...nothing," he stammered.

"Brian, I know you," I warned. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing," he lied once more.

I narrowed my eyes at him. There was definitely something bothering him. He was always a terrible liar. I wondered how he got so good at acting. His eyes constantly darted to the right and back to his menu. Another waitress brought my drink and tried once more to get Brian's order. He said nothing as he handed her his menu and brushed her off. What the hell was his problem? I followed his glare to Adonis and Paisley's table. Their drinks were halfway empty and were both deeply engrossed in their phones. They didn't seem to be doing anything wrong, other than ignore each other. Why was he staring so intently at them? I snapped in his face to get his attention.

"Hey, if you feel uncomfortable with them here, we can go," I suggested.

"No," he shook his head, glancing at his phone. "it's...it's nothing."

I groaned as he put my menu up to shield his face from me. We came here to complain about book changes, not stare down basketball players and their girlfriends. The changes were just thrown at us without any alerts or prior notice. Last time I checked, Brian found it utter bullshit how the whole thing went down. I scheduled this with hopes that we'd get all our frustration out while enjoying some good Italian food. Didn't expect this silence from him, though.

"Hey, buddy-" I started, but was cut off by the glass shattering.

"What?" Paisley snapped loudly, rising from their booth. Everyone's head turned in their direction. Seriously, they're causing a scene? Wasn't it enough that they were already effortlessly getting everyone else's attention? I sighed, rolling my eyes. "You're breaking up with me?"

"Would you keep it down?" Adonis asked quite loudly, completely contradicting his request. "You're making a scene."

"Oh, so I'm embarrassing you now?" she spat. "You should've thought about that before you put on this little show."

"You're the only one putting on a show," he argued, a bit louder. I mean, he had a point. She was the one who yelled in the first place.

"Who is the little tramp you're leaving me for?" she demanded.

"No one. But honestly, replacing you would be easy," he chuckled, crossing his arms.

With that, she grabbed her purse and stormed out. Everyone's eyes followed her as she left. Honestly. how could you not stare? Adonis didn't even try to go after her. I gawked as he simply answered a phone call. How could he let her go like that? They really seemed to be a great couple. Everyone turned to stare at him as she started up a conversation on the phone with someone. Did he not care at all that Paisley was gone? That's actually pretty fucked up. I didn't know much or care about them anyway, but no one deserved to be dumped that way.

That was how celebrities were. They simply used other people to make themselves a lot more popular. Once they were no longer of use, they simply threw each other away. It was sick, but that was how it was. Finding a genuine, down-to-earth celebrity was damn near impossible those days. My theory was maybe the business was crooked and set up that way. I could be wrong, but that really seemed to be the root of what the problem seemed to be.

Brian tossed his phone on the table. His chest rose and fell as his jaw clenched tightly. His eyes were glued on Adonis. I certainly understood if he was upset about what just happened. It shouldn't have went down like that. Of course, there might've been more to the story than what we knew. There was no point in getting worked up over something you couldn't change.

"Brian," I started.

"Piece of shit!" he hissed at the air.

I watched, confused and helpless as he rose to leave. What the actual hell, man? We were supposed to be ranting and eating lunch. Our break was over in half an hour! I damn sure wasn't going to stay here after that whole scene. He seemed to be in a good mood before that whole scene went down. Something in him clicked, making him into the biggest bitch known to man. I toss a couple of dollars on the table before following him in his haste out the door.

His pace quickened as he neared the crowd gathering at the center of Time Square. I rolled my eyes. Was there another basketball player out there smooching his soon-to-be ex in front of thousands of cameras? This city never seemed to have its limit on the drama that goes down. Brian ducked further into the crowd, disappearing in the sea of people. I slowed down to a leisurely pace. Great, how the hell was I supposed to find him now? There was something sincerely wrong with how he reacted to God knows what.

I sighed, shoving my hands back into my pockets. Why am I so worried? Brian is literally an open book! If there was anything that was wrong with him, he'd tell me as soon as he got the chance. I hailed a taxi from my phone, turning and heading back to the restaurant. My phone vibrated with a text. Brian's name popped up on my screen. See? Nothing to be worried about.

**Brian:** I'm so sorry. It really isn't a good time. I have to go deal with this thing. Tell you about it later.

I sighed, shoving my phone back in my pocket. The sun was just setting behind the skyscrapers. No time to eat anything now. Luckily, the book changes would be incorporated in tomorrow's show. Brian, on the other hand, needed to get his life together. I shook my head and shoved it to the back of my mind.


	2. Well...Hello

I yawned as I pull into a parking space closest to the entrance of the theater. My exhaustion hung limp on me like a damn shirt. I felt like every muscle was giving into gravity. What I wanted was sleep, a nice warm bed and a solid night of dreams. But the book changes wouldn't let me. Studying the new blocking took up most of my night. Thanks to the efficiency of our ever-so-generous writers I memorized a page of dialogue between Brian and I, new blocking, and altered cues. Our rehearsals would be the only time we had to go over the last minute amendments. There would never be enough coffee to get me through the day.

Brian's Chevy was parked a few cars away from mine. Yesterday's little fiasco had me wondering if he was even going to show up. With all these script changes, I wouldn't blame him if he went completely mad. I started towards the stage door sluggishly, my duffel bag slung over my shoulder weighed down every step. A fellow cast member waved at me from their car as I passed it. The bags under their eyes and the Starbucks in their hand reminded me that I wasn't alone in my suffering.

The decorated door leading to the lobby was propped open. A blast of heat relieves me from the blistering cold. My muscles relaxed at the newfound warmth. The short walk from my car to the front door damn near gave me frost-bite! It wasn't even winter yet, but the snow flurries drifted continuously from the cloudless sky. That's fall in New York for you. I stopped for a moment to strip off my jacket.

I made a beeline for my dressing room, avoiding the stage at all costs. The longer I could go without seeing the writers the better. Soundcheck and vocal exercises echoed through the brightly lit halls. The door to my dressing room was already open with the lights on inside when I got there. Soft whispers of someone inside drifted from the room. Brian must've been rehearsing his lines at his vanity table. I knocked to let him know that I was coming in, wincing at a flashback of what happened when I did.

I paused when I saw Brian leaning on his table, crossing his arms. A woman sat in front of him, her back to me. What was this? I raised my eyebrow as he leaned down to whisper something in her ear. We have a visitor? Brian never told me about that. As of lately, there happened to be a lot of things Brian didn't let me in on. I set my bag on my chair, draping my jacket over the back. When I turned back towards them, they were both staring at me with grins plastered on their face.

My breath hitched in my throat as the cinnamon-brown eyes of Brian's company caught mine. Her curly brown hair fell in soft layers over her plain white shirt. She was an adult I supposed, but so young that she still had the exuberance of youth. Burnt sienna skin had never looked so beautiful on a woman. Diamonds studded her ears and dangled from a silver chain around her neck. Yet, their glimmer was no match for her dazzling smile. She could've graced any billboard, magazine cover, or Victoria Secret catwalk. What the hell was she doing with a plain guy like Brian?

"Who's your friend, Brian?" I asked, scanning her. At times like this, I wished I had some kind of X-ray vision. It took everything in me not to linger too long on her exposed cleavage.

"Oh, yeah! Christian, this is Paisley," he introduced, turning to her. "Paisley, this is my good friend, Christian."

My eyes widened at her name. Wasn't she the girl that made had that big scene with Adonis yesterday? I never got the chance to see her face before she stormed out. Nah, that girl wouldn't be on this side of New York this time of day. This city is was too big anyway. For all I knew, Paisley could be a common name in these parks.

She stood, extending her hand out to me. "I've heard so much about you! It's a pleasure to finally meet the infamous Christian Borle."

Her hand was soft and tiny in my hands as I lifted it up to my lips, planting a gently kiss on it. "The pleasure's all mine."

She giggled, attempting to hide her grin behind her other hand. Her hand remained in mine as if neither of us wanted to let go. My eyes drifted down to her pillow lips, tinted with dark red lipstick. Her gaze slid to the side for a moment before Brian cleared his throat, catching the both of our attention and breaking our lingering hands.

"We should head out there, Christian, rehearsal should be starting soon," Brian suggested, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Oh right! I'm sorry guys. Didn't mean to keep you for too long," she apologized, grabbing her purse from Brian's chair. "I should get going too then. Call you later?"

"I'll keep my phone on me,' Brian assured.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Christian," she winked before starting out the door, her high heels clicking on the tile floor with every step.

I bit my lip, craning my neck to watch her walk away. The painted-on jeans she wore brought out every curve. I bet the one thing that would make them look better would be on my bedroom floor. The way my name just rolled off her tongue made me think of how wonderful it would sound in all different contexts. A sharp pain hit me in the back of the head, drawing my mind back to reality. I spun around, my hand instinctively rising to the bruise.

"Don't," was all that Brian said before brushing past me and out of the room.

"The hell you mean 'don't'? Why not?" I called, following after him.

"You saw what happened yesterday! She literally just went through a breakup," he argued.

My feet forgot how to function at the news. That seemingly flawless woman was the one that Adonis dumped yesterday? Questions floated around my head and trampled all over all other thoughts. The main one was how the hell does Brian know her? This woman was dating an NBA star! What the hell was she doing hanging with a Broadway actor? How did they even meet? I grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him back before he could get too far away.

"How the hell do you know the ex-girlfriend of Adonis Johnson?" I gasped.

"Long story," he muttered. "Just...don't try it, alright? She's...different than what you're used to, no offense. You go after her, I swear to God, I will--"

"Don't worry, alright? I'm not going to try anything with her," I assured.

The image of her faded back into my mind. With the way that literally everything about her practically oozed seduction, I wasn't sure about that statement. Perhaps that was a promise I just had to break. Besides, the odds of me getting with a girl like that was slim to none, but who knows? I could get lucky one night.

"Who is--?" I started, but the sound of the stage managers calling our names crashed my train of thought.

"Here we go," Brian groaned before the both of us jogged towards the stage.


End file.
